Mike Brown probably should’ve just hired a “Triangle Guy” as his assistant, ran that as his offense in LA, and implemented his own defensive system from there in his takeover of the Los Angeles Lakers.
It might’ve worked better that way this season with the pieces his Lakers currently have. Unless, of course, the idea coming in was to move some of those Triangle pieces and start over with a new group of players acquired through blockbuster trades. Like the one they tried to make for Chris Paul, or any of the others they’re maybe talking about right now with Paul Gasol.
That is my speculation though.
What is being reported, as a result of the Lakers’ unhappiness in Brown’s offensive system, is that the players don’t like what they’re doing. According to the ESPN report cited below, they called a players-only meeting to talk about how they can get back to their winning ways of Phil Jackson’s Triangle offense. And have kept meeting about it ever since.
This from ESPN Los Angeles:
Brown’s effect on the Lakers’ defense has been undeniable, but sources say the team’s ongoing struggles on the road — with L.A. dropping to 6-14 away from Staples Center following a loss in Detroit and blowing a 21-point lead to the undisciplined Wizards — have some veterans longing for a return to the trusty Triangle offense preferred by Brown’s predecessor, Phil Jackson.
ESPN The Magazine’s Chris Broussard recently reported that Kobe Bryant and Derek Fisher called a players-only meeting after a win against Portland on Feb. 21 to address concerns about Brown’s style, as well as persistent trade rumors involving Pau Gasol.
While that meeting might have quelled some of the tension in the short term, these two latest losses have brought the issues right back to the forefront and perhaps even exacerbated the situation as the team nears the March 15 trade deadline, continuing to languish in the middle of the pack in the Western Conference.
Sources told ESPNLosAngeles.com that multiple players have continued to meet privately since the initial team meeting to discuss running elements of the Triangle offense again.
“The players want to unify,” one source with knowledge of the situation said. “They know how to win, and they want to fix this. I don’t know if they can, though. “
This isn’t too good for Mike Brown, and it’s also a lot of the same criticisms he endured in Cleveland. Looking back at the Cavaliers situation, it was somewhat easy in revisionist history to blame LeBron James for all that. But now, this is two teams, saying the same things, and Mike Brown’s going to need to figure something out quick here. In his defense, he kinda got screwed by the Chris Paul thing. Then losing Lamar Odom wasn’t his fault either. Metta World Peace isn’t the easiest guy in the world to manage, and the Lakers PG / team leader who is calling these meetings is a guy who stinks now. So all of that is tough, but he is the Head Coach, so he’s going to need to figure a way through it anyways. There’s probably guys in that locker room thinking Brian Shaw could’ve figured it out by now too, hashtag just saying.
